On 17/02/2017 04:03, Andrew Pardoe via Boost wrote:
Visual Studio used to install onto a developer's machine like a dump truck of bricks being unloaded. The VS team made some design choices to help make VS install lighterweight, less impactful, and uninstallable.
These are laudable goals, and this is what you said in your previous message that developers were actually asking for -- for example the ability to install only C# with nothing else, or only Web, or only Phone, or whatever.
As a side-effect of that design, it's also able to be installed side-by-side.
This, however, seems like a non-goal that only introduces problems without actually solving any. It's a classic example of a developer thinking "hey this is cool, we can do this now" without actually having a real business case for it, and in fact ending up being what nobody actually wants. (Somewhat like the SHOUTING MENUS, although in that case it's an artist rather than a programmer at fault.) So yes, have the lightweight componentised installer. But make it so that you can install C++ now, and then install Web *to the same place* later, and then uninstall C++ without uninstalling Web, all without having multiple install instances that confuse everyone. (Or if that's too hard, make it so that you have to uninstall everything and then can reinstall fewer components next time. People don't uninstall that often anyway.)